Perpendicular magnetic recording systems have been developed to achieve higher recording density than may be possible with longitudinal magnetic recording systems. FIG. 1A illustrates portions of a conventional perpendicular magnetic recording disk drive system. The disk drive system has a recording head that includes a trailing write pole, a leading return (opposing pole) magnetically coupled to the write pole, and an electrically conductive magnetizing coil surrounding the yoke of the write pole. The bottom of the opposing pole has a surface area greatly exceeding the surface area of the tip of the write pole. To write to the magnetic recording disk, the recording head is separated from the magnetic recording disk by a distance known as the flying height. The magnetic recording disk is rotated past the recording head so that the recording head follows the tracks of the magnetic recording media. Current is passed through the coil to create magnetic flux within the write pole. The magnetic flux passes from the write pole, through the disk, and across to the opposing pole. Conventional perpendicular recording disks typically include a magnetic recording layer in which data are recorded, and a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL). The SUL enables the magnetic flux from the trailing write pole to return to the leading opposing pole of the head with low impedance, as illustrated by the head image of FIG. 1A. A relatively thick SUL, for example, approximately 40-200 nanometers (nm) is needed to facilitate magnetic flux return to the leading opposing pole of the head with low impedance. SULs that are too thin or have too low magnetization show saturated regions on the bottom of SUL where significant amounts of magnetic charge are formed, which result in magnetic flux leakage and poor SUL performance. Further increase in SUL thickness greater than 200 nm leads to better magnetic flux containment but spatial oscillations of magnetization inside the SUL can induce magnetostatically driven vortex structures corresponding to SUL-induced write noise, as discussed in Manfred E. Schabes et al., Micromagnetic Modeling of Soft Underlayer Magnetization Processes and Fields in Perpendicular Magnetic Recording, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 38, No. 4, 1670, July 2002. The SUL thickness also depends on the type of write heads. To use of shielded pole write heads as proposed in M. Mallary et al., One Terabit per Square Inch Perpendicular Recording Concept Design, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 38, No. 4, 1719, July 2002, can reduce the SUL thickness requirement up to 50% compared to an unshielded pole design.
Perpendicular recording disks should have much narrower PW50 than is currently observed in longitudinal recording disks because in a perpendicular recording layer all of the magnetic easy axes are aligned in the perpendicular direction, i.e. the direction of recording. With this perpendicular recording type of media, the SUL is intended to serve as a flux concentrator to provide a sharp head field gradient so that narrow transitions can be written. The SUL, however, contains magnetic structures that are fully exchange coupled and, as such, any magnetization transition present in the SUL will be at least as broad as a typical domain wall width (e.g., 100 to 500 nm), illustrated in FIG. 1B. Such a domain wall provides stray fields much stronger than the fields from the recording layer, which causes typically spike noise. Reversed magnetic domains are usually observed due to the strong demagnetization fields along the edges of a disk.
A SUL with a high permeability is desirable because it enhances head field strength and gradient during the writing process. However, a SUL with too high permeability can cause saturation of the read head elements, exhibits a high sensitivity to stray fields higher than the coercivity (Hc) of the SUL, and increases wide area adjacent track erasure as well as magnetic domain noise. The induced anisotropy field (Hk) of the soft, ferromagnetic (FM) layer in most SULs can be lost at an elevated temperature under stray fields. This may result in reduced permeability along the circumferential direction and cause poor SUL performance with jittery time response to a drive write field, as discussed in Dimitri Litvinov et al., Recording Layer Influence on the Dynamics of a Soft Underlayer, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 38, No. 5, 1994, September 2002. Thus, thermal stability requires that Hk does not vanish at a maximum disk operation temperature of approximately 100° C. Simulation results showed that the sensitivity to stray fields was greatly reduced with little effect on recording performance if the permeability of the SUL was reduced to 100, as discussed in H. Muraoka et al., Low Inductance and High Efficiency Single-Pole Writing Head for Perpendicular Double Layer Recording Media, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 35, No. 2, 643, March 1999. The production of a low noise SUL while maintaining a single domain state, medium permeability along the circumferential direction, magnetic stability from stray fields and thermal stability has been a difficult goal to achieve due to the high cost and complex manufacturability of current solutions.
One solution has involved the use of a triple layer structure having a Cobalt Samarium (CoSm) hard magnetic pinning layer, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,194 and Toshio Ando et al., Triple-Layer Perpendicular Recording Media for High SN Ratio and Signal Stability, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 38, No. 5, 2983, September 1997. The triple layer structure includes a CoCrTa perpendicular recording layer, a CoZrNb soft magnetic layer, and a CoSm layer that pins the magnetic domains in the SUL and provides a single domain state. This single domain situation was only maintained, however, when the effect of the CoSm pinning layer on exchange coupling was dominant. It required a relatively thick CoSm thickness of 150 nm. Furthermore, reversed edge magnetic domains of CoSm/CoZrNb were still present due to strong demagnetization fields along the edges of the disk, which was caused by ferromagnetic configurations in CoSm/CoZrNb exchange coupled films. If a thin hard magnetic (HM) layer is used, the HM/FM bilayer will show typical uniaxial switching characteristics with a relatively high coercivity for a soft FM layer due to strong ferromagnetic coupling with the HM layer. This, in turn, will result in a loss of single remanent magnetization state and loss of the exchange bias field (Heb), i.e., a shift of the hysteresis loop in a minor hysteresis loop measurement. Magnetic orientation of the SUL depends entirely on the magnetic orientation of the HM used.
Another solution to reducing spike noise that originates from domain walls in the SUL in the presence of stray fields in the disk drive is through the use of an antiferromagnet (AF) pinning layer either between the SUL and the substrate or in an [AF/FM]n multilayer structure. Either a structurally disordered AF of Iron Manganese (FeMn) and Iridium Manganese (IrMn) or a structurally ordered AF of Platinum Manganese (PtMn), Palladium Platinum Manganese (PdPtMn), and Nickel Manganese (NiMn) can be used as an AF pinning layer. Unidirectional uncompensated interfacial magnetic moments of the AF are induced along the magnetization direction of the SUL during film deposition or via a post annealing process, as discussed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,457, S. Tanahashi et al., A Design of Soft Magnetic Backlayer for Double-layered Perpendicular Magnetic Recording Medium, Journal of Magnetic Society in Japan, Vol. 23 No. S2, 1999, and Jung et al., FeTaN/IrMn Exchange-Coupled Multilayer Films as Soft Underlayers for Perpendicular Media, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 37, No. 4, 2294, July 2001. An ordered AF having better thermal stability than a disordered AF requires an annealing process, at 250-280° C. for 2-5 hours with an orienting field of >1 kiloOersted (kOe), to achieve a face-centered tetragonal AF phase. Thus, a disordered AF is preferred in order to get Heb without additional annealing. Since Heb∝1/tFM where tFM is the thickness of soft FM layer, the hysteresis loop can be shifted by decreasing tFM until Heb>Hc. This results in a unique single remanent magnetization state to which the system returns after any field cycle. The magnetization perpendicular to the pinned direction is highly reversible, a key requirement for prevention of domain wall formation. With such a solution, the single domain state of the SUL is achieved by an exchange coupling with the AF pinning layer and is independent on stray fields. FeMn has poor corrosion resistance and low blocking temperature (TB) of 150° C., where TB is the temperature at which Heb becomes zero. However, IrMn exhibits sufficient corrosion resistance and TB and, thus, can be used in recording media, as discussed in S. Takenoiri et al., Exchange-Coupled IrMn/CoZrNb Soft Underlayers for Perpendicular Recoding Media, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 38, No. 5, 1991, September 2002. However, IrMn is so expensive that it can significantly increase manufacturing cost. Another problem associated with using IrMn is that it still requires an additional field annealing process to induce a uniform Heb along the radial direction. Furthermore, demagnetizing fields that are relatively weaker than that in HM/FM layer structures still exist along the edges of the disk. Therefore, there is a possibility of forming reversed domains along the edges of a disk.
Another approach has involved the use of synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) coupled film structures. SAF coupled film structures originally developed for use in magnetic read sensors and longitudinal recording media are being used in perpendicular recording media to reduce edge demagnetization fields, improve robustness to stray fields, and enhance thermal stability. The SAF structures utilize a Ruthenium (Ru) spacer layer between two soft FM exchanged coupled layers, for example, composed of Cobalt Tantalum Zirconium (CoTaZr) or Iron Cobalt (FeCo). The Ru interlayer induces SAF coupling between the soft FM layers. In order to achieve an easy magnetization, a radial magnetic field of sufficiently high strength and uniformity distributed along the radial direction is necessary during film deposition. A SAF structure with equal soft FM layer thickness, however, may not hold a single domain state because of the same switching priority after removal of magnetic fields. A SAF structure with non-equal soft FM layer thickness aids magnetic alignment while maintaining a single domain state and increases Heb in the top soft FM layer closest to the magnetic recording layer resulting in reduction of adjacent track erasure, as discussed in B. R. Acharya et al., Anti-Parallel Coupled Soft Underlayers for High-Density Perpendicular Recording, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2383, July 2004. However, undesired magnetic domain walls are easily induced because of a low Hc in a thicker bottom soft FM layer. A SAF structure with a thinner top layer requires a pinning layer for the thicker, bottom soft FM layer, as discussed below.
The general pinning concept was originally developed for use in spin valve heads. A typical spin valve head consists of an AF layer coupled to the FM pinned layer, a spacer layer, and a soft free FM layer. The most common AF materials used are PtMn, PdPtMn, and IrMn. As previously discussed, these materials are expensive and generally more susceptible to corrosion. In order to replace such expensive AF layer materials with an inexpensive permanent magnet, a structure having a permanent magnet, spacer layer, and FM pinned layer was developed, for example, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,754,054, Michael A. Seigler et al., Use Of A Permanent Magnet In The Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Of A Spin-Valve, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 91, No. 4, 2176, February 2002, and Yihong Wu et al., Antiferromagnetically Coupled Hard/Ru/Soft Layers and Their Applications In Spin Valves, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 80, No. 23, 4413, June 2002. Such references discuss the use of CoCrPt as the HM layer, Ru as the spacer layer, and CoFe or NiFe as the soft magnetic pinned layer. In particular, Wu et al. discusses a series of experiments that were carried out to study the dependence of Heb on the thickness of the CoFe and NiFe layers. It was reported that such structures exhibited a higher Heb and better thermal stability than IrMn or PtMn pinning layer structures. FIG. 1C illustrates the magnetization M (memu/cm2) versus the field H (kOe) loops of a structure of Cr(4)/CoCrPt(8)/Ru(0.8)/CoFe(t) with the thickness t=2, 3.5, and 6 nm, respectively. The results of the experiments illustrated in FIG. 1C show that the magnetic exchange coupling of the CoCrPt/Ru/CoFe (HM pinning layer/space layer/soft FM pinned layer) structure changed from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic coupling as the CoFe pinned layer thickness was increased from 2 to 6 nm. The SAF coupling was only observed, however, when the CoFe pinned layer was less than 6 nm thick. A less than 6 nm thickness layer would not be suitable for use in a SUL for perpendicular magnetic recording disks that typically require a thickness in the range of 40-200 nm. The lose of SAF coupling strength at 6 nm is not surprising because it was reported that the interfacial exchange energy (JAF) very rapidly decreased above 5 nm thickness, as discussed in S. C. Byeon et al., Synthetic Antiferromagnetic Soft Underlayers for perpendicular Recording Media, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2386, July 2004, and it also exhibited a large Hc of 120 Oe in 6 nm-thick CoFe. Both a reduction of JAF and an increase in Hc will contribute to ferromagnetic configuration. In order to enhance Heb, a thin (0.5-2 nm) CoFe film was inserted between the CoCrPt pinning layer and the spacer Ru layer resulting in a CoCrPt/CoFe/Ru/CoFe structure. This decreased the Hc of the CoCrPt/CoFe layer stack, which was found to be deleterious for read sensor applications.
As previously mentioned, in order to reduce media noise, it is important for the SUL to maintain a single domain state as well as optimized permeability along the circumferential direction. In some conventional sputtering processes, radial magnetic fields of 200 to 500 Oe generated from magnets in the magnetrons of a sputtering system are applied to a disk, as discussed in discussed in K. Tanahashi et al., Exchange-biased CoTaZr Soft Underlayer for Perpendicular Recoding, J. Applied Physics, Vol. 93, No. 10, 8161, May 2003. While in other conventional processes, radial magnetic fields of up to 1000 Oe are applied to a disk during a post SUL deposition annealing process. A single domain situation, however, may not be obtainable by disk processing in an as-sputtered state due to the stray fields from the cathodes using either a permanent magnet or electromagnet during film deposition.
Another approach to maintaining a single domain state of an SUL is to deposit permanent magnet ring-shaped bands around the SUL on the disk in order to permanently bias the SUL, for example, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,202. FIG. 1D illustrates the perpendicular recording disk described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,202, having a ring shaped SUL 14 deposited on the disk 10 between an inner permanent magnet ring-shaped band 26 and an outer permanent magnet ring-shaped band 28. The permanent magnet bands 26 and 28 are deposited on the disk in the presence of a radial magnetic field that causes net remanent magnetization in the magnetic bands to be aligned radially which, in turn, creates a radially distributed magnetic field in the plane of the disk substrate between the bands. The permanent magnet ring-shaped field bands 26 and 28 generate a magnetic field in excess of 10 Oe, more preferably in excess of 50 or 60 Oe. The SUL 14 is brought into a single domain state by the generated magnetic field.
Another post-processing approach to achieving a single domain state of an SUL involves positioning a circular magnet in close proximity to a finished (i.e., completely fabricated) disk to generate the radial magnetic field. However, the radial field strength at a certain distance between a disk and a circular magnet for minimizing out-of-plane magnetic fields is typically weak, less than 300 Oe. The field distribution is not uniform even in a short radial field zone. A problem with the conventional single domain state schemes discussed above is that they are performed on an individual disk, resulting in low production rate.